A/N: You guys are going to hate me for the end of this chapter, but y'all know what I'm about. Either way, the final fight is just around the corner. It won't be pretty, and it won't be happy. There's no reason to put it off any longer. Nothing more needs to be said or built up.

Time for chapter 32

Enjoy!

A bead of nervous sweat trickled down Gaara's face as the silence dragged on. For the past several weeks, two presences had slowly drawn closer to the borders of Uzushiogakure. At first, they had been too distant to identify, but the more the gap closed, the clearer their signatures became. Nine days ago, Gaara had finally pinned faces and names to the two entities en route for the ruins. Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga. Not particularly intimidating foes, but ones that held power over her for other reasons. Simply by association, their arrival would certainly complicate things for the redhead.

No doubt, they were coming to retrieve the pair. Likely by force, if they were on a mission even remotely similar to that of the Hunters. Naruto was still unaware of their impending arrival, and Gaara was quite stuck on whether or not to notify him. On one hand, telling him would likely make the encounter fairly simple. Sasuke was a fairly simple task, as was Neji, but put together, they would be tricky to deal with alone. Naruto still held a fairly large advantage over the redhead in terms of power, and he had beaten Neji once before in quite brutal fashion. The issues with informing him, however, were many from Gaara's perspective.

Most prominently, his reaction to the knowledge of his former comrades, one of which being his teammate, coming to face him was difficult to predict. A small sliver of homesickness still existed within the blonde, and his bond with Sasuke almost certainly still held weight. Neji was less of a concern, but he was still a factor. Equally troubling was the fact that they seemed to know exactly where she and Naruto were. The more she thought about it, the more sure she became that a message needed to be sent. Something that would keep them all away. Something that would force all to leave her alone to enjoy a life with Naruto.

The world was once again doing its best to tear down any foundations of happiness that she had found the strength to build. Fortunately, this problem was one that could be solved through force. With enough effort, she could rid herself of her opposition completely. They could be removed from her life entirely. The past four weeks had been a blissful existence unlike anything Gaara had experienced. She awoke and fell asleep to a kind and caring face every day. Even in the wreckage of a once-great society, she had found peace with another person. She had suffered to create this new reality, and she would not allow it to be taken away.

Taking a glance to her left, Gaara suppressed the urge to reach out and touch the boy sitting next to her. They were situated at the base of a residential wreckage a few meters away from the river. It was nearing nighttime, and the temperature was dipping rapidly. Despite the oncoming cold, Naruto had still fallen asleep sitting up. It was an endearing quality of his. The ability to make the best of even harsh situations, be them the bitter cold reality of winter or a life of oppression. He remained an inspiration day in and day out.

"Let's get you to bed, Naruto." Gaara muttered. She then stood up and reached down to pick him off of the ground. It took a considerable amount of effort, but she eventually was able to sling him over her shoulder. Somehow, he was still asleep. It was roughly an eighth mile walk to the library, which was convenient given that the river was their lifeline. Every day, they caught the fish that dwelled in the river, and the water was clean enough to drink. Overall, it was a dull diet, but one that worked well and was unlikely to fail them.

"Why must you be so heavy?" Gaara grumbled as she hauled her significant other along. Eventually, and painstakingly, she reached the entrance of the library. Once she was there, though, she was struck by an idea. Taking a glance around, Gaara spotted another building a fair distance east, one that was still relatively intact. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for more exercise, the redhead carried Naruto another lengthy distance to the structure. She kicked open the door and peered inside, sighing with relief as she discovered a bed and blankets. They were dusty and disheveled, but they were still very much usable. Carefully entering the run down house, Gaara laid Naruto down on the sheets and covered him with all of the blankets available.

Once he was fully covered and situated, the redhead gently caressed the side of his face and sighed. Sasuke and Neji were bound to arrive inside of the next hour. Pinpointing exactly when was impossible, but it would be soon. There was little time left. The closer they came, the more sure of her decision Gaara became.

"I know you'll be upset with me, but I'm doing this my way. Diplomacy is no longer viable. Sleep well, my love." she said before exiting the building and closing the door behind her. There was no realistic way for her to keep both Neji and Sasuke away from Naruto, but it mattered not, for only one of those names was on her mind at present. For all that her mind told her that defeating Sasuke Uchiha a third time would be a relatively simple matter, a nagging suspicion in the back of Gaara's mind argued the opposite.

Their first battle had been a massacre in her favor. She had utterly dominated him the moment she had begun to try. Their near-immediate rematch had been harder, but circumstances had played a large role. Gaara had made the mistake of resealing her strength during her battering of Shino and Kiba, which had allowed Sasuke to enjoy a decent margin of success. She was outmatched in her human state, that much was clear.

'No waiting this time. I'm not taking any chances.' she vowed, forming a hand seal and holding it for a moment. Then, a doppelganger of Gaara formed in front of her from the sand that was now leaking from her gourd.

"Intercept them." she said to the clone, receiving a curt nod in response. Gaara's copy quickly bounded away towards the southern border of Uzushiogakure. Once she was out of sight, the original redhead turned back toward the library and began a rapid walk.

There was nothing left to do but wait.

"I'd heard about this a few times before. An abandoned village, forgotten by time. I never thought I would see it with my own eyes."

Sasuke nodded and looked around as he and the Hyuga entered the boundaries of what remained of Uzushiogakure. It was in shambles for the most part, but there remained a timeless flavor of culture to what was still there. Whatever disaster had befallen the once-great city had to have been absolutely devastating, as it was quite clear that what was before them now was only a sliver of the village's true size.

"If I remember right, it hasn't even been that long since this place was thriving. Only around forty or fifty years. Looks to me like an earthquake hit. The way things have fallen apart and cracked, it all looks like it was shaken from the ground up." Sasuke commented as he stepped over a piece of fallen stone.

"If you're right, it really does put into perspective just how helpless we humans are in the face of natural disasters. On a whim, mother nature can wipe us off the face of the earth. It's a harsh world we live in." Neji said with a dry chuckle. Nature was indeed far beyond human comprehension past a certain point, and people lived according to its whims. And yet, there were those foolish enough to try to control it. At this thought, Sasuke began to think out loud.

"You could kinda say the same thing about the Tailed-Beasts and their Jinchuuriki, don't you think? We convince ourselves that locking them away is the right thing to do, but all we're really doing is delaying the inevitable." he said. Neji raised an eyebrow, but eventually shrugged his shoulders.

"I suppose you're right. Bijuu can't be controlled by humans. Not really. Even those who suppress them aren't really in control. To be brutally honest, I don't think Jinchuuriki are people who should be crossed. Perhaps that's discriminatory, though." he said honestly.

"If you both think that way, then why are you even here?"

Both boys tensed and whirled around to face rightward. Standing atop the roof of a ravaged building that was likely once the home of a native citizen was the first and last person they had wished to find. Though her clothes were slightly more worn and tattered than they normally were, there was no mistaking her for another. Gaara of the Desert was upon them.

"You know, making us come to you may have been a wiser decision." Neji said as he and Sasuke glared up at the redheaded Jinchuuriki. Gaara brushed back a strand of her crimson hair and leapt down from her perch, landing just a few feet in front of the genin.

"Oh, I will be making you come to me. Well, one of you. You see, my business is only with Sasuke. You're of no concern." she said bluntly. Sasuke scowled and stepped forward.

"I'm glad we're on the same page. Before we get to that, though, tell us where Naruto is. Do that, and I'll give you a headstart." he said menacingly. Gaara smirked and folded her arms across her chest.

"Go and find him yourselves. It shouldn't be too hard. And, I won't be the one running. That would be you, Sasuke." she said. Before either the Uchiha or the Hyuga could respond, Gaara burst into a shimmer of sand, leaving an empty space where she had once been. After a moment of confused silence, Neji activated his Byakugan.

"She's in an enormous structure about a mile ahead, and Naruto…" he began, scanning the area for a few seconds before finishing his report.

"...is in a much smaller building quite a bit closer to us. He looks to be asleep." he concluded. Sasuke nodded and stared ahead at the outline of what was likely the building that housed Gaara. It was massive, and looked to be in much better condition than the vast majority of the village.

"Go find Naruto. I'll handle Gaara." he said. He then began to walk towards his distant destination. Before he could make it even one hundred feet, Neji called out to him.

"Try not to lose your mind. She'll do everything in her power to get under your skin. This will be a battle for optics, not for victory." he said. Sasuke turned around and gave him a puzzled look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked skeptically. Neji jammed a thumb in the direction of where Naruto was dwelling.

"I won't be able to hold him off for very long. When he beats me, he's going to come running to the two of you. I get the feeling that he'll be less agreeable if he sees you completely off your rocker. Same goes for Gaara." he explained. Sensing that it was a poor idea to wait much longer, Sasuke simply nodded and went on his way to face Gaara. Neji remained and watched him leave.

"Be careful, you mad bastard." he muttered to Sasuke under his breath. He then sighed and turned to begin his trek to find Naruto.

'Beating or not, I'll take it like a man.'

Sasuke struggled to contain his awe at the sheer scale of the building he now stood in front of. He was a mere ant in comparison. It rose at least one-hundred fifty feet into the air at its peak. As such, the door felt quite undersized at only around eight feet in height. Taking several deep breaths, Sasuke put his hand on the wooden door and pushed it inwards. It took some effort, but the door eventually gave way to the pressure. Stepping inside slowly, the Uchiha's eyes darted in either direction warily. He was on edge. There would be no surprises. His senses would not allow it.

Slowly but surely, he made his way to the center of the bottom floor. He could feel Gaara's presence vividly. She was nearby, practically on top of him. It was an unnerving pressure that he had felt twice before. Unlike those two previous encounters, however, this was premeditated. He wanted to be here. He had thought of nothing else for the better part of two months.

"Come out, Gaara. Don't make this any more tedious than it needs to be." he called out into the enormous building that seemed to be a library. For the majority of the next sixty seconds, he heard no response. Just as his frustration was beginning to build, a voice rang out from above.

"I suppose I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. It's not as though I haven't been consumed by the prospect of you coming to ruin everything too." came Gaara's voice. Sasuke dragged his glare upwards and to his right, where he spotted her descending one of the two stairwells. Though it was difficult, the leaf genin kept his calm as she calmly stepped down onto the book-ridden stones of the floor. She was now only a few meters away from her, allowing Sasuke to get his first good look at her since his arrival. She was more or less identical to how she had been at the border of Konoha, but her hair was slightly longer, reaching down to her shoulders with the same messiness. Her eyes were also somewhat bloodshot.

"Don't get it twisted. I'm here to fix things, not ruin them." the Uchiha snapped back. Gaara's blank face morphed into a snarl in the blink of an eye.

"You aren't fixing a damn thing. All you're doing is trying to drag us back to a society that wants nothing to do with us. You know as well as I do that Danzo wants nothing more than to weaponize Naruto. Is that what you want?" she demanded through bared teeth. Sasuke remained unflinching.

"About that, actually. You probably aren't aware, but Danzo was found dead in his quarters more than a month ago. He's a nonfactor. There's no reason for Naruto to remain out here." he said. Gaara's eyes instantly widened to saucers. Not bothering to wait for her to respond, the Uchiha spoke once more.

"Looks to me like that's what you were hanging your hat on. The war probably isn't going to happen either. Konoha and Suna are set to have a meeting soon. Chances are, they'll come to an agreement. There's no ground for you to stand on here. This was never about the war. Not for you, anyway. This was and always has been about Naruto." he said, his tone accusatory. Gaara's eye twitched.

"And so what if it is? Is it too much to ask that I be left alone with the boy I love?" she growled back. Sasuke's expression shifted through several different extreme emotions as he processed her words. First, confusion, then understanding, soon followed by disgust.

"Shut the hell up. You don't know the first thing about loving a person. I doubt you even can. All you know how to do is slaughter. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have killed Naruto in his sleep. Drop this sentimental bullshit. It doesn't suit you, and it isn't real." he said. The redhead's hands tightened into fists.

"You're going to regret coming here. You've been a thorn in my side from the very beginning. I'm going to kill you this time. I won't let you rip him away from me." she hissed. Her eyes were now a burning gold color, and her canines had lengthened into fangs. Her body was exuding a dark chakra that Sasuke could practically see.

"He was ours first, Gaara. You stole him away by manipulating him and tearing his life apart. You aren't defending what's yours. You're just trying to keep him isolated." Sasuke said as his sharingan manifested in his eyes.

"I deserve something. I don't care who I hurt or what I had to do. He deserved better, and so did I. I'll go to any lengths necessary to make a life worth living." Gaara said before sending a swatch of murderous sand forth from her gourd to crush him. Sasuke easily evaded the assault and punished her by closing the distance between them and driving his left knee into her solar plexus. The blow forced her to retreat a step, allowing the leaf genin to pursue her by kicking her knee inward and ruining her balance. The Uchiha then vanished from sight, reappearing twenty feet over her head.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he yelled after weaving the appropriate series of hand signs. A blast of superheated flames crashed down onto Gaara from above, sending a harsh orange glow across the library. Once he was satisfied with the volume of fire he had produced, Sasuke returned to his original position and assumed a taijutsu stance. It was far from over. As expected, once the smoke cleared, Gaara still stood unfazed. Her sand had absorbed the brunt of the jutsu, though it had been turned to glass in the process.

"You can't beat me like this, Gaara. You know that." he goaded her as she dusted herself off. She responded by slamming her fist into the glass that surrounded her, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

"Can't I?" she replied. The storm of glass shards then swarmed after Sasuke. The raven haired boy ducked and dove as best he could, but he couldn't fully evade the transparent torrent. After a few moments of pointless and painful evasion, Sasuke clenched his jaw and burst forward. He then knocked Gaara to the floor with a forceful punch to the left side of her jaw. With their wielder momentarily compromised, the serrated storm of glass returned to Gaara's side. With space to breath, the Uchiha retreated to regroup.

"No, you can't." he said in response to her mocking question. The redhead audibly sighed and sat up, rubbing her bruised jaw.

"Like I told you the first time we fought, you're like a housefly." she grumbled as she rose to her feet and assessed him. She then cracked her neck and narrowed her eyes.

"Even so, I'm not going to give you any more free success." she said. Sasuke quickly realized what she was likely implying.

"If you think I'll just let you transform, then you're dead wrong." he said as he prepared to attack her again. Gaara broke out into a giggle.

"It's already too late." she said vaguely. The Uchiha opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but the answer slapped him in the face before he could.

"I put a little bit more effort into creating that one. Just enough to make her serviceably tough."

Sasuke's blood ran cold as he forced himself to look straight up to the balcony. Staring down at him with a disturbing grin was another Gaara. She had assumed the transformation that had been his undoing the first time, with an armoured right arm, strange tattoos covering her face, and a pair of diamond-shaped irises. He then looked back to the more human Gaara.

"Sorry, but you've been played." she said with a false smile, her body fading away into a cloud of sand as her words reached him. Before he could react, the transformed, apparently real, Gaara leapt down to the floor from the balcony with a loud crash.

"Sorry about that. I just felt the need to be cautious. You battered my base state up and down the last two times we fought. I think you've more than earned this." she said, her voice husky and dark. The Uchiha nervously backed up a step.

"How did you transform that quietly?" he asked. The redhead gestured towards the upper floor from whence she had come.

"There's a hidden ladder behind a bookcase that leads to an underground chamber. It's where Naruto and I have been sleeping at night to evade the cold. It also happens to be soundproofed." she explained as she stalked forward. A dark look then overtook her features.

"I'm not going to take my time like I did before. I'll bury you here." she said. Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat and drew a kunai.

A moment later, Gaara charged.

A/N: It has begun, my readers. The last fight of this story. It'll be brutal, and it'll be emotional. Tell me what you thought of this chapter. Only a few left ;)

See you next chapter! Read and Review!